I Need a Hero
by patricia51
Summary: BBT collides with Sheldon is The Nobel Prize committee has made an incredible Leonard has abandoned And now the world is coming to an end? Penny's cousin has a plan to save the But who will save them from Sheldon? P/L, S/A,
1. Changes

I Need a Hero, Chapter 1 by patricia51

(BBT collides with "2012". Sheldon is miserable. The Nobel Prize committee has made an incredible mistake. Leonard has abandoned him. And now the world is coming to an end? Penny's cousin has a plan to save the group. But who will save them from Sheldon?)

(Changes)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEEEEE! Nooooooooo! NOT Euclid Avenue!"

Sheldon's screaming protest was in vain. Not only did the truck he was riding in turn onto the speed bump laden street but it did it on two wheels. Nor did the vehicle slow down once it bounced back onto the other pair of tires. The engine roared as the madwoman behind the wheel stomped the gas pedal to the floor while shouting a completely superfluous recommendation to hang on.

The vehicle hit the first speed bump and went airborne. It slammed down to the pavement, sparks flying as the frame ground on the concrete. The action repeated again each time another bump was encountered; more violently each time as they continued to pick up speed.

Sheldon greeted each bump with a sound that was ever increasing in both volume and pitch. He would have done the same for each landing but didn't find the time to do so before the next launch. His eyes bugged out at the sight of a semi-trailer blocking the end of the street. However his resulting faint spared him from discovering if one or both of the evil midgets in the back seat him would have indeed followed the yelled directions for "someone stuff a sock in that mouth".

(Four months earlier)

"Oh my God, LOOK!"

Sheldon continued to eat. After all, if he stopped what he was doing every time Howard Wolowitz thought something was important he would never get anything done. Well, not anything but his productivity would be definitely reduced. Although what could command such rapt and reverent attention from an engineer with no doctorate might be an interesting thought to pursue when nothing else was available right now his food demanded his full concentration.

"Oh MY!" That was Koothrappali chiming in. Still not enough to merit turning around especially since there seemed no hint of danger involved. However...

Leonard was staring in whatever direction the other two seemed to be indicating. His mouth was open in an expression of amazement that Sheldon normally only associated Leonard having when his roommate was dreaming about the annoying neighbor across the hall. It did not seem likely she was here.

"Sheldon, LOOK!"

Well perhaps if Leonard felt it was important. Although not up to his own abilities the New Jersey physicist did occasionally somewhat approach his own level. He turned slightly.

The department chairman Doctor Gablehauser and CalTech President Siebert were walking towards the table where the foursome sat. They were accompanied by two men and all were having a very animated conversation; one that seemed to excite the University duo. Then he recognized them even as Leonard supplied the answer.

"They're from the Nobel Committee!"

Sheldon folded his napkin and placed it precisely next to his plate on the tray. "Well I can hardly say I'm surprised. In fact I find it hard to believe it has taken this long." He calmly stood to await the group. A group that lost Doctor Gablehauser after he looked around; failed to see whatever he was looking for and scurried away. The remaining trio hesitated. Why would they need to do that fretted Sheldon. He was right here. So he took the initiative and advanced.

"No need to look any further. I'm right here."

President Siebert looked astonished. Why was that? Very strange. Then one of the two men asked an even more surprising question.

"You are Doctor Leonard Hofstadter?"

"Of course not!" Sheldon replied indignantly. "Why would you even ask such a question? Certainly you must know who I am."

"No idea," admitted the other man after the two Nobel representatives shared a look which Sheldon was, of course, unable to decipher.

Just then Gablehauser returned with, of all people, Leslie Winkle. What in the world was she doing here?

"Gentlemen here is the other member of our prize pair," Gablehauser announced. "Doctor Leslie Winkle."

The light dawned on Sheldon. "Oh I see. Very droll." He gave his little two step laugh. "Very amusing. Yes, you had me going there for a minute. But enough of this foolery. Let's get on with the real announcement."

"Whatever you say Doctor Cooper," President Siebert said agreeably. "Gentlemen?"

To Sheldon s astonishment the two Nobel committeemen proceeded to announce to one and all the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Physics to be jointly shared between Doctors Leonard Hofstadter and Leslie Winkle. He seemed after that to catch only occasional words once he realized they actually were giving HIS Nobel Prize to those two, well, only one was a hack but the other, while somewhat capable was not in his league. Words like "dark matter" and "string theory" and heaven's above "impressive contribution to science" were bandied about. Finally it all ended with the entire group; visitors, so-called friends, administrators and Winkle leaving with him still standing there. In fact it took him so long to come out of his daze that he found everyone had gone home without him, forcing him to get a taxi home.

And after all that when he changed his mind and destination to the Cheesecake Factory he found Penny wasn't there and the barkeep present not only didn't care about his troubles but charged him for his glass of water with umbrella and then ignored him. The amount of time he brooded over the injustice of the afternoon though at least meant when he did get home it was to witness the ending of an impromptu party. Fortunately that ending meant that Leslie Winkle left shortly after his arrival without even a word to him. Perhaps she was too embarrassed at getting what should have been his Nobel Prize or perhaps she was finally understanding that she really should confine herself to childbirth and such and therefore slipped away from him.

Eventually he found the apartment vacated except for himself, Leonard, and Penny; in descending order of importance. He realized that coitus was almost certain to occur, based on the kissing and the fact that Penny was positioned in Leonard's lap and the pair was ignoring any attempt by him to turn the conversation to Sheldon's desired subject. He was still trying to get Leonard's attention when the duo rose and without losing touch staggered out the door, across the hall and into Penny's apartment. Once the door was firmly locked they ignored his repeated knockings and he found that Penny had put a new lock on the door since his last midnight visit.

"Well," he had sniffed and gone off to bed and sleep. The bed was just fine. Sleep eluded him. It made him even more determined to tackle Leonard about what had happened yesterday when his roommate, who had apparently slept late because he didn't come home until nearly noon, finally showed up.

"Good morning Sheldon," Leonard greeted him cheerfully as though he had no idea at all what was wrong.

"Good morning indeed!" Sheldon fumed. "First of all it's nearly afternoon and second of all is that all you have to say after that disgraceful affair yesterday?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about! You stealing away my Nobel Prize. And with that charlatan Leslie Winkle as well. At least you should have had the decency to list me as your co-researcher if not as the lead scientist in your little project, whatever it was."

"Sheldon," Leonard replied patiently, in far too good of a mood to point out the obvious flaws in his friend's statement. "I broached the base theorem with you when I first came up with it. You told me it was repetitive, pointless and not only doomed to failure but would leave me a laughing stock of the scientific community."

"And THAT is why you deliberately left me out of the credit for... well... it?"

Leonard rolled his eyes. "Sheldon you don't even know what the project was, even now. I tried to discuss it with you every step of the way, you always dismissed what I had to say. When I found I needed a partner I asked you repeatedly and each time you refused. When I asked Leslie she eagerly accepted and regardless of what you think of her I found her contributions were as important as mine."

"That's not saying much," Sheldon pointed out disdainfully.

Now Leonard sighed. "Sheldon you are a genius but if you spent more time on your own projects and less trying to run everybody else's down perhaps the Nobel Prize would have been yours. But it's not this year. Get over it."

"Get over it," Sheldon muttered. He retreated to begin a series of strongly worded protest emails he sent off in succession to The University, the Physic Department, the Nobel Prize Committee and Leslie Winkle's parents. None of them brought responses.

The days passed and eventually he thought he might be able to get past Leonard's actions. Heaven knows he had worked hard enough, every day impressing on his roommate how he Sheldon should have been the one to get the Nobel Prize and how Leonard really didn't deserve it and that he simply couldn't start skipping his duties as a roommate now. But it all turned out to be to no avail.

On a Monday morning he had come out of his room brisk and neat as always and prepared to go to work. And no Leonard was to be found. He wasn't in his room. In fact there wasn't any sign that his bed had been slept in. Sheldon had sighed and crossed the hall, fretfully checking the time as he did. Why did people always assume that anything they were doing was more important than what they needed to be doing for him? It was a question that baffled him. Never-the-less he knocked.

"Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny."

"I'm sorry," came an unfamiliar female voice from behind the closed door, "they're not here."

Sheldon considered the situation and knocked again.

"Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny."

"Amazingly in the fifteen seconds that has elapsed since your last knock neither Penny nor Leonard has appeared."

Was that sarcasm? He had such a hard time telling. He knocked a third time.

"Leonard and Penny. Leonard and Penny..."

The door was yanked open so abruptly that he nearly took a step back. A red-haired woman with green eyes that seemed more amused than angry stood with her hands on her hips. Sheldon reached for the door frame and quietly completed his knocking.

"Leonard and Penny."

"To repeat; they're not here. Did you get it this time or do I need to say it a fourth time?"

"Where are they? Or at least where is Leonard?"

"They're gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"Elsewhere."

Feeling that he was now being made fun of Sheldon persisted.

"Where elsewhere?"

"I'm not at liberty to tell you that."

"But I'm his roommate! Doctor Sheldon Cooper."

"I'm Petty Officer Second Class Donna Greene of the United States Coast Guard as well as Penny's cousin and in that case I REALLY am forbidden to tell you where they are."

"Why?"

"Because they don't want any interruption from you while they're on their honeymoon."

(To be continued)


	2. Worries and a Plot

I Need a Hero, Chapter 2 by patricia51

(Worries and a Plot)

Sheldon stood aghast. "Honeymoon?"

"Honeymoon."

"But why?"

"It's traditional after getting married."

"But they didn't say anything to me about it!" protested Sheldon.

"Exactly."

"But I need to get to work," Sheldon explained as though that might conjured one or the other of the missing pair out of the air.

"Excellent. People should be gainfully employed."

"Gainfully employed? I'll have you know that I am a world-renown theoretical physicist, a mind that comes along only once or twice in a generation."

"Oh so you're a physicist?" Without waiting for an answer she went on. "Well take the 'gainful' away then but still it's good to know that you are employed."

Never any good at reading people Sheldon didn't see the twinkle in the green eyes. He just sputtered. He was still sputtering when the woman ushered two children out of the door, closed and locked that door and headed down the stairs.

"Wait a minute! There aren't supposed o be children in this building!" he called after them. "It's for adults only!"

"They let you in didn't they?" floated back up the stairway.

The relationship between he and Donna only continued to go downhill from there. It turned out that despite his strongly worded letters to the building management that there was no bar to tenants having children. He was comforted somewhat on Leonard's return in two weeks only to discover that his friend was moving out. It quite baffled him that Leonard would prefer to live with Penny than with him.

He had assumed that being Penny's cousin that Donna would shoulder her obligations in regardless to taking him to work and the other places he needed to go. She didn't refuse; she simply ignored him in those matters.

"Don't worry about it Sheldon," she told him after breezing by him yet again in the hallway. "As soon as quarters are available at the Coast Guard Station Channel Islands Harbor at Oxnard we'll be moving there and you can bother the next occupant of the apartment.

Sheldon sniffed. Bother indeed. As if his perfectly reasonable requests should be considered any kind of bother. They should be considered to be favors.

He attempted to bring this to everyone's attention at a get-together at Penny and Leonard's new home. A chorus of "Go Away!" was all that greeted his efforts. Even Amy declined to take his side.

That was why when Leonard had intercepted him in the hallway two months ago and asked him to join him, Howard, Raj and Leslie in a discussion "of great importance" he had, of course, declined. Surely he could not be expected to participate in anything involving Leslie Winkle. Besides he doubted any of them were capable of determining that something could be "of great importance". And finally he reminded Leonard that he had yet to apologize to him for winning HIS Nobel Prize. With that he stalked off.

Leonard shook his head and returned to his lab, carefully closing the door behind him. The members of the group he had mentioned to Sheldon were scattered around the room. They all looked at him.

"So what did dummy say?" asked Leslie. "Might have known," she added when Leonard shook his head again.

"It may be for the best," suggested Raj thoughtfully. "Not that I'm suggesting Sheldon be left out of our plans but rather that prematurely recruiting him might be dangerous. He never knows when to shut up. And from what Howard has discovered there really does seem to be something very strange going on with regards to people who seem to know too much or say too much about what we suspect is coming.

Howard shrugged. "It's useful to have cousins and cousins of cousins all over the world. The latest apparent victim seems to have been the director of the Louvre, who dies in a mysterious car accident the day before he was to hold a press conference. He had announced there would be spectacular revelations concerning all of Mankind. One might take it with a grain of salt but the accident was very suspicious and coupled with what we have been able to find out it's likely he was killed to shut his mouth."

Leonard sighed. "I just can't believe things like that happen."

"Believe it," answered Leslie.

"I do," Howard supported glumly. "When you're Jewish you get used to the idea that someone may be after you. Unfortunately you're usually right."

(Three years previously)

The seed of this get-together had been planted several years before when Raj had been home visiting his parents in India. After having survived a series of completely unsubtle attempts by his parents to arrange his marriage he had finally escaped one afternoon. While visiting the University he had been very pleased to run into Doctor Satnam Tsurutani, India's foremost astrophysicist and a boyhood hero of Raj's.

Over lunch they had carried on a animated discussion of their recent activities. Raj s interest was outward; he studied Trans-Neptunian space while Dr. Tsurutani's interest was the sun. Raj noted that his idol seemed distracted and even a bit worried at times. He was not willing to press but he did ask if everything was alright with the older physicist.

"You are aware of that recent massive solar flare of course."

"Of course," Raj had returned. "Among other things orbital telescopes were useless for weeks after. I had to stop my research until they were safe to be used again."

"I happened to discuss the situation with Adrian Helmsley, an American geologist. I had wondered if there were any effects on the Earth. The flare produced an outpouring of neutrinos from the sun such as I have never seen or heard of before."

"And is there?"

"He told it explained a lot. The temperature of the Earth's core has increased rapidly since then."

Raj was absorbed in thought for a few moments.

"Could that be dangerous?" he asked.

"Possibly."

The conversation had moved on to more pleasant subjects and Raj had nearly forgotten about it by the time he came back to America. However the idea surfaced again when he was reading some scientific articles. Out of curiosity he talked to several members of the Geology Department. What he found out gave him pause.

At first the geologists about talked his ears off. After a few months though he noticed they were becoming more and more reluctant to speak on the subject or even acknowledge it existed. Finally he found that certain senior members had left the University recently and no one could or would tell him of their whereabouts. It was then that he started to bring the others into his confidence and share what was becoming increasingly mysterious and worrisome to him.

Of course Howard and Leonard were the first he talked to. They debated trying to recruit Sheldon as well but decided against it.

"The first thing we know he'll decide that he's in charge and start making up grandiose titles for himself," declared Leonard.

Howard had shuddered. "We do NOT want to go through what happened when we developed your idea for the smart-phone app."

"At the same time he IS our friend no matter how crazy he drives us," Leonard stated firmly. "If we discover that there really is something to all this he will have to be included in whatever plans we make."

"Okay," agreed Raj.

"Fine," said Howard. "But I'm making a crossbow just in case."

Time passed. The initial furor of excitement and worry died down but never went away. Howard married Bernadette, which gave them another very intelligent member of their group, and he went into space, which opened a broad assortment of contacts. Leonard came up with the idea that would lead to the Nobel Prize and recruited Leslie Winkle when Sheldon haughtily rebuffed him. The female physicist was added to their group and dug deeply into her friendship with a number of Geologists and Seismologists. Finally Leonard's relationship with Penny deepened and reached the point where she, in accordance with their agreement, finally asked him to marry her. This added someone to the group who was no scientist but who had her feet firmly planted on the ground.

(One month ago)

Everyone sat tensely around the dinner table in Leonard and penny's apartment while Howard circled the room. He watched the screen on the piece of electronic equipment he was using, occasionally glancing up and around the room and pointing the tip of the item as though he was conducting some arcane ritual. Finally he lowered it and turned it off.

"We're clean."

"I cannot believe that we have to use a bug detector in our own home," Penny protested. "Who ARE these people you are worried about? The government?"

"Not just our government we think but all the world's major ones," replied her husband. "And it's not like they are looking specifically for us or anything. This isn't "Enemy of the State', we're not being targeted."

He looked grim. "All the same the number of accidental deaths and disappearances among journalists, scientists, politicians and even business leaders has become statistically significant. We think the disappearances and accidents fall into two classes of people."

Leslie took up the thread. "The so-called accidental deaths, and some of them aren't even being covered up anymore, some are just outright murders, are devoted to keeping whatever the secret is. The disappearances are different."

Now it was Howard's turn. "You would not believe the number of engineers who have dropped out of sight over the last two years, particularly marine engineers. We're talking top flight ones. Coupled with the extremely vague rumors we've heard about the "Arks", well, I'm wondering if that term is literal rather than figurative.

Raj jumped in. "Leonard and I have been keeping current with the effects of the neutrino bombardment and its effect on the Earth's core. Once again, interestingly, all the discussion on those subjects has stopped and the research dropped out of sight. But what we saved, cross-researched with Geology and Seismology models leads us to one conclusion. There is about to be a catastrophic shift of the Earth's crust."

Silence blanketed the room. Finally Bernadette broke it.

"So what do we do?"

"Going public is not an option for two reasons. First, we'd probably be silenced as soon as we tried. Second," and now Leonard looked desperately grim, "We think there's not much time left."

"So what do we do?" Bernadette repeated.

"We stockpile food, water, medicines and other emergency supplies. But only the amount that we can take with us. Obviously California will be one of the least safe spots in the world." Leonard proposed.

"Where can we go? East?"

"If, and it probably will, the Yellowstone Caldera erupts, the entire Western half of the United States and more will be rendered uninhabitable."

"South then?"

"Perhaps. But there is no promise that any place on the globe will be safe. Therefore, I suggest that we listen to a plan that Penny came up with.

(To be continued)

. .


	3. The End Begins

I Need a Hero, Chapter 3

(The End Begins)

Leonard frantically dug in his pocket for his phone. Twice he failed to get it out and the third try resulted in it skittering across the floor as he dropped it. He took a deep breath and willed himself to be calm. Picking it up he hit the speed dial.

"Honey," he said when Penny answered, "It's starting."

The Cheesecake waitress snapped her phone closed. She dropped her menus and order pad in front of the surprised diners whom she had just been regaling with the day's specials. Without a word she turned and walked out.

She unlocked her car and got in; carefully placing her phone on the dash she started the engine, put on her seat belt and shifted the vehicle into drive. Retrieving her phone she pressed send.

"Amy? It's time. I'm on the way to get you. No don't worry, Donna will get Sheldon. And she won't take 'No' for an answer." With that she dropped the phone in the passenger seat and stepped hard on the gas.

Methodically Leonard was turning off the computers, printers and other equipment in his now-a-days overflowing lab/office. Thank goodness he had been moved to a bigger one, as befitting his Nobel Prize winner status. He sighed. Too bad that trophy, the end result of years of work, meant absolutely nothing now.

His phone beeped. He looked at the screen. It was Leslie. He picked it up as he left the room with his lap top under his arm, closing the door behind him and locking it from sheer force of habit.

"Amy called me. Are you sure?" the female physicist asked without bothering to waste time waiting for Leonard to speak.

"Without a doubt. The backdoor tap Howard ran into the US Geological Survey's computers shows quakes are beginning to swarm all over North America and they are getting reports from other nations saying the same thing. Those quakes are not stopping; they're only building in intensity. It's only a matter of time and not much of it before the San Andreas Fault starts to let go. In fact I'm surprised it hasn't already."

"We've been eavesdropping on the National Weather Service as well. They picked up a panicked SOS call from a cruise ship off the Japanese coast that only lasted seconds before being abruptly cut off. It reported a giant wave bearing down on them. A tsunami alert has been issued for the coast there but scattered comments were picked up that it was already too late for anyone not already moving to get to high ground."

"So we're going to be moving then when it starts here," Leslie stated rather than asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, I'm on my way to get Raj. He'll call Howard and Bernadette. Have you called Donna? Without her we're up the creek."

"Penny did. I got a text message from Donna. Good news and bad news. The good news is of course that she's not on duty today. The bad news is that she has to pick up her kids and then Sheldon. Fortunately it's a straight shot from the school to the apartment building and north out of town. Knowing the way she drives she'll probably still beat us there."

Leonard had not stopped walking briskly towards the parking lot while he talked. He fought an urge to start running. The initial problem with his phone had reminded him again of what Donna had stressed would be the biggest obstacle to their plan.

"Panic is the killer," the Coast Guard Petty Officer had told them all at a meeting after she had brought in on the secret and the developing plan for their escape. "People drown when safety is only a few strokes away because they panic. Rescuers have had to abandon people they could have saved because the victim's panic was such they could not be approached."

"When this starts everyone is going to be frantic, running wild and having no idea what to do. The secret to surviving is to stay focused on what you need to do. There may come a moment when we all have to start running. Don't do that until it's absolutely necessary. The time you might save won't help if you fall and break your leg."

"Finally," the young woman looked grimly at the group, "people will be desperate. Desperate people do terrible things when fear takes over. They may try to seize your car or take the stuff you have packed. Be alert. Don't let them. If you have to run over someone then do it. As horrible as it sounds you can't stop to help someone. It might be a trap and there won't be any time for that anyway. Or room for other people. You are all nice folks; kind thoughtful civilized people. Don't let it kill you. Civilization is going to go out the window."

Leonard's phone chimed. He glanced at the screen. Howard and Bernadette were on their way. By the time he drove out of the parking lot Amy had called to inform him that her "bestie" had picked her up. Everything was going according to plan.

He had just placed his phone back on the dashboard when it began to vibrate and skitter about on the dash. He gripped the wheel as the car began to shake. Then as quickly as it had started the quake slowed and stopped.

"That was a warning," he said aloud. "It IS time to go." By the time he was out of the parking lot the tires were squealing.

Per a last minute decision at their final meeting as soon as Penny had picked up Amy and the pair was headed towards their hoped-to-be safety the neurobiologist called Sheldon. She was sure he was home since he had announced he was going to work on his latest project from there for a few days. He had expressed surprise at all the support and encouragement he had received at the University when he had announced that. No one had the heart to tell him just why everyone thought his spending time away from the University was greeted with such enthusiasm. And obviously no one was available to take him to the comic book store, Pottery Barn, Soup Plantation, Radio Shack or any of the other places he was always telling friends they needed to drive him.

It seemed to take forever but finally an irritated Sheldon answered the phone.

"What is it Amy?" he snapped. "I can't be bothered every time you think that..."

"Shut up Sheldon," Amy snapped back. Taken completely aback by anyone treating him the way he often treated others he did just as she told him. Satisfied she went on.

"There's a file on your computer I just sent you. Open it, read the first part and then grab your earthquake emergency kit and anything else you can carry. Donna is on her way to pick you up. While you wait you can check some of the confirming data attached. But hurry. She won't wait for you and you need to listen to her." Amy hung up her phone cutting off Sheldon's sputtering protests before they had time to gain any momentum. Or coherence.

Within just a few minutes Donna screeched to a stop outside the building. Instructing her six year old twins to stay in the truck she bounded up the four flights of steps. She hammered on Sheldon's door.

"Sheldon! Get moving. Come ON!"

"I'm not ready," came from the other side of the door. "I haven't finished reviewing the data."

Donna took one step back and delivered a flat footed kick at the door. The high security lock that Howard had installed held. The door hinges didn't. An astonished Sheldon looked up from his laptop.

"You have three minutes and then I'm leaving without you. You only have those three minutes because I want to get my daughter's extra medications beyond those I already have stored in the truck downstairs. You can bring your computer, in fact if it's satellite capable than we need it. But MOVE!" She disappeared only to stick her head back in as Sheldon sat frozen at his computer. "NOW!" she roared in the same voice she had learned to give commands in while boarding possible drug boats and vessels in trouble.

Sheldon moved.

When the next tremor rocked the building he moved even faster. In fact now he was running, frantically bringing stacks of items to the front door. By the time Donna returned, a small bag hanging from her shoulder by a strap, the pile of stuff was assuming monumental proportions.

"What goes Sheldon?"

"What goes?" He stared at the red-head as though she was crazy. "All of it goes."

"Not hardly. You can take what you and I can carry in one trip" She looked at the stack. "Your game systems are staying as are your comic books although I suppose you can bring a couple if you can stuff them somewhere. You need clothes, hygiene items and any medications you need including over-the-counter ones. Do you even have a toothbrush and soap in this?"

In short order the pair was making its way down the stairs. Increasingly powerful tremors had wiped Sheldon's complaints away. They emerged into the street and a scene of chaos. Donna threw her load in the back of her four wheel drive crew cab truck, yanked open the passenger's side door and told Sheldon to get in. He protested.

"I have to put my stuff in the truck and it needs to be laid out carefully, not simply chucked in there". He peered into the truck's back seat. "Couldn't your children, one at least anyway, ride in the back?"

In answer she yanked his stuff from him, nearly strangling him with the strap of the overnight bag he had looped around his shoulder. She tossed it with the other stuff and shoved him head first into the open door.

He hurried when another and even larger tremor shook the street. Bricks from nearby buildings began to fall and to his horror he saw the buildings themselves were beginning to sway. He slammed the door and put on his seat belt as Donna came around to the driver's side.

Just as she did a large man, shouting words Sheldon couldn't understand, ran towards them. As the recipient of innumerable bullyings Sheldon instantly realized the man was going to try to take something from them. But Donna recognized the danger too apparently. Timing it just right she yanked open her door, slamming it with all her strength into the charging man and knocking him flat. Then she was behind the wheel, the engine was running and tires smoked as she roared down the road. Sheldon couldn't tell for sure but thought she might have run over the man she had flattened. Then she turned on to Euclid Avenue and he ended up fainting.

When he woke up he immediately wished he hadn't. Donna had just cleared a line of stalled and crashed cars on some secondary road and the acceleration was pushing him back in the seat. He snuck a peek over then wrenched his eyes away. He really didn't need to know, he reasoned, that the speedometer was now registering over one hundred miles an hour.

The view elsewhere wasn't any better. To their left the land was falling off into the ocean. On the right he watched in horror as a freeway overpass collapsed on a line of cars. He looked in the oversized side view mirrors and really wished he hadn't as they came up a rise affording him a miles long view behind them. From what he could see from Pasadena all the way back to Los Angeles the entire California coast was sliding into the ocean.

"Sheldon."

"What?" He managed to wrench his attention back to the driver.

"See if you can call Leonard."

Amazingly he got through. But before he could even start say anything beyond hello Donna told him to hold the phone towards her.

"Leonard has everyone made it?"

"Yes but the gate is locked and chained and we can't get in."

"We're five minutes out. Clear me a path and be ready to follow me in."

"Okay."

Leonard apparently hung up as though he didn't even care to talk to Sheldon who reminded the crazy woman "Wherever we're going there's a locked and chained gate or didn't you hear Leonard say that?"

"Yep. You better hold on. Tighter."

(To be continued)


	4. Plans

I Need a Hero, Chapter 4 by patricia51

(Plans)

Donna looked sideways for an instant. Amazingly Sheldon had finally stopped screaming, moaning, whimpering and complaining. He DID look like he was in another world, somewhere safe from the earthquakes and the toppling buildings and the crevasses that were opening big enough to swallow whole city blocks. An irrelevant thought struck her, she had once read that regardless of what disaster movies showed earthquakes did not open cracks in the earth any deeper than a couple of feet. Well those scientists had never thought of anything like this.

She could almost envy the physicist next to her. He was out of it. She glanced in the rear view mirror. He didn't have to force down the panic she felt, the terror that she would not be able to save her two children, much less the friends that were counting on her. Being the one everybody depended on was getting old very quickly.

Enough of that. Turn to the task at hand. The road descended, blocking the view behind them, and she saw the sign indicating the turn off on her left. Taking it as fast as she could she saw the rest of the group's vehicles in front of her on either side. Good, they had left her a clear shot at the imposing metal gate.

"Hang on," she instructed the other three. Steel grill guard first the truck slammed into the gate and tore it loose. Immediately she turned the wheel and raced down the road till she came to the right berth. A quick check behind her showed Penny was leading everyone else to her.

"Out, out, out!" she yelled as she jumped from the truck. She reached in and strapped the heavy belt around her waist, knowing she should have done that before. Her boots thundered dully on the wood of the dock as she raced towards the boat.

Penny Hofstadter had no mind for science but she could clearly see the world around her, something her beloved husband and his friends were often unable to do. She also could read the subtle nuances of people's speech, body language and attitudes. She had quickly noticed when Leonard had become distracted and worried far beyond how she had seen him before even in the midst of his Nobel Prize winning labors.

She wasn't famous for her patience but she did manage to refrain from tackling him on whatever it was that was occupying all his waking hours; and some of his sleeping ones judging from the tossing and turning in bed and the sudden awakening from nightmares. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore and sat him down.

"Leonard, what's wrong?"

"Why nothing," he had replied in a voice that could not have been less convincing if he had tried to make it that way.

"Leonard, we're married. No secrets. Please."

Slowly and halting at first Leonard had tried to explain. Once he got started though the words began to pour out. In his haste and desire to explain everything he soon lost her completely and she had held up her hand to stop him.

"Honey, I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about now. You don't need to prove your theory to me. Which is, if I understood it correctly, is that things are leading up to a world-wide catastrophe."

"So what are we going to do about it? Is there a safe place we can head for?"

"Nowhere that we can think of." He went on to explain how it was possible the entire continent of North America might be destroyed by earthquakes and massive volcanic eruptions and that so far they had found no place that they could say would, or even might, escape the same fate.

While it was true that Sheldon Cooper, of course, thought that Penny was at least two and possibly three levels below him on the evolutionary scale it had to be admitted that most of the rest of the group, fond though they were of her, didn't think of her when it came to solving problems. Leonard knew better. Penny could put two and two together and rarely came up with five involving real world, down to earth problems.

Scared by the prospect of what her husband was telling her Penny never-the-less determined to help find a way out for them. Then she had an idea. If no place on earth was safe than what about out at sea? Fortunately she knew someone she could ask about that thought.

Her cousin Donna had moved from her East Coast assignment just a few weeks ago. Born and raised in South Carolina half a continent away from Penny's Nebraska the pair had still become friends at an early age during shared summer vacations at each other's homes and family get-togethers. Married and then divorced at an early age she and her twins became a fixture in her and Leonard's life in short order. Because Donna's rotating twenty-four on/forty-eight off schedule made child care difficult Penny had taken to rearranging her Cheesecake Factory hours so she could keep the kids. Surprising even himself her husband had taken to them and proved to be a superior "Uncle Leonard". The experience had made them talk more and more about having some of their own.

"After all," she teased him, "they would be smart AND beautiful."

Now she was glad that so far they hadn't followed through on that. It would be too frightening. She had seen Donna's reaction to the carefully worded and guarded news she had told her cousin about. Immediately Donna had thought of her kids. But she had taken a deep breath and bent her mind to figuring out how they might all find some possible safety.

The group had been astonished at their next meeting when Penny brought Donna in and explained she had told her some of what was feared to be happening soon as well as the stern warning to keep it all to herself. Donna listened to a full summary by Leonard and then explained her idea.

"As I understand it, there really is no safe spot to be found on land, especially not in any place you all feel we can reach."

"Right now Donna we can't say for sure that any place in the world is safe. All we can be sure of is that where we are now is probably going to be one of the first places to go."

"I understand. Therefore I am proposing that we take to the ocean."

Silence greeted her proposal at first. Then Leonard began to nod, very cautiously. Penny nearly giggled at the thoughts she saw rushing through his mind. How much Dramamine would he need to survive an ocean voyage for, well, however long it took? The guys DID say their calculations told them that eventually the temperature of the Earth's core would stabilize and things would return to normal. Well, not NORMAL normal. Not like it was now but all of the solid earth would not be swallowed by the seas.

"What are you proposing?" Howard asked. "And what dangers do you foresee?"

"I'm suggesting we get a boat. A boat with sails as well as a motor. I can handle a schooner rigged boat and teach a couple of you how to do it as well. We need one with a motor to help us avoid some dangers and of course to get us as far away a possible from land when the destruction begins."

"Why away from land?" Leonard inquired in fascination. Penny sensed he was asking because he really wanted to know, not because he was objecting or thought her statement was wrong.

"The biggest dangers on the ocean generally are when you are closest to land. Storms at sea can be bad but you are much more likely to be driven aground on a reef or indeed the shore itself and pounded to bits than you are to be swamped out to sea.

"Also I'm sure those earthquakes and such you all have been describing will cause tsunamis. A lot of them. Far out at sea you can ride over a tsunami and not even know that it's passed you. It isn't until the seafloor rises to meet the land that the water is forced up and becomes the tidal wave we see crashing over buildings and people.

"Of course there are storm waves that can suddenly build to great heights. Think the 'Andrea Gail' in 'Perfect Storm'. And then there's the threat of mega tsunamis."

"I don't like the sounds of THAT," said Bernadette and Amy nodded her agreement.

"Neither do I," admitted Donna. "Think 'Deep Impact'. Imagine a huge wall of water, maybe a hundred meters high, maybe more marching across the face of the ocean, sweeping everything before it. They are the very rare, thankfully, tsunamis that start with a wave height far above normal rather than build to that height as they approach land."

"Do they really exist?"

"Oh yes. There are recently recorded ones. They are caused not by underwater eruptions but by landslides into water and possibly of course a meteorite strike. The good news about them is that first they tend to occur in confined areas of water. In 1958 at giant landslide at the head of Lituya Bay in Alaska gave rise to the largest wave ever recorded; 524 meters. Additional good news is that two men in a fishing boat actually managed to ride the wave and survived. So perhaps we can do it too if we are confronted by one."

"How do you know all these things?" asked Raj.

A pensive look crept over Donna's face. "Once upon a time I had dreams of attending the Coast Guard Academy, majoring in Marine and Environmental Science with a specialization in Geophysics and getting my commission. I missed the cut the first time I applied, not surprising as normally there are over 2000 applicants annually for 240 positions. So I enlisted, thinking the training and experience would count heavily when I applied next. But then all of a sudden I was married and pregnant and divorced and the Academy doesn't accept single parents. Or parents at all."

"Not that I regret a thing," she hastily added. "I wouldn't trade Daniel and Tiffany for anything. Even my ex-husband and our time together. I'm sorry he bailed rather than be a father but that was his decision and loss. But I've continued to study and work on my degree. So that's how I know these things. Besides, the Coast Guard DOES have some experience dealing with problems at sea you know."

"So we get a boat. Where will we find one? And how can we afford it?"

"I'll find what we need. As for affording it," she had shrugged. "We'll find a way to rent it, lease it or buy it on time. After all, money is not going to be worth a lot soon and credit reports will be a thing of the past. However, we might pick up some gold and silver coins. Stored properly they could make good ballast and they may be worth something in the world after all this."

Working together they had found a boat meeting Donna's specifications and leased it. It had been carefully stocked with supplies, non-perishable foodstuffs and survival gear such as fishing lines and nets, solar stills and other stuff. A powerful diesel engine was available for emergencies and Penny, Bernadette and Howard worked with Donna to learn how to use the sails that would drive the boat most of the time. They all rehearsed driving from Pasadena to the marina where the boat was docked, including alternate routes.

And now it was happening and now they were here. Everyone parked in a line as close as possible and formed a human chain to unload the last minute items. As soon as a vehicle was emptied it was driven away.

Sheldon stood with his mouth open watching in astonishment. He shook his head vigorously.

"No, no, NO! I am NOT getting on a boat."

"You don't have to Sheldon," Donna told him.

"I don't?"

"Nope. You can stay here and die." With that he climbed into the boat and disappeared into the cabin.

Everyone tumbled in as the last car was emptied. Donna started the engine and called out "Cast off forward. Penny dashed down the dock and freed the front hawser holding the bow to the wood. She ran back to the aft rope. Next to them she saw a woman with two teenagers struggling to free a slightly smaller boat.

"Hurry," she screamed at them. "You need to get to sea."

"My husband isn't here yet!" the woman shouted back.

"Cast off aft," Donna commanded. "Now Penny!" She shot a look over her shoulder. "Quickly! The gates are open and here come the hounds."

(To be continued)


	5. Getting Away

I Need a Hero, Chapter 5

(Getting Away)

"Quickly! The gates are open and here come the hounds."

Penny untied the rope from the dock cleat and leaped into the cockpit. Her gaze was drawn to the shore. A torrent of people were flowing down the docks, wild-eyed and screaming incoherently. Many staggered and fell as once again the ground beneath their feet shook.

This time the tremor went on and on. The wood of the dock splintered and broke in places, spilling some of the frantic refugees into the water. But others were coming on, consumed by panic and looking for any way out. Donna fed power to the engine but Penny realized that at least the first members of the mob would reach them before they cleared the dock.

The leader of the group, or at least the first in line, was waving a piece of what looked to be steel or lead pipe in his hand. As he came level with Penny he screamed. "Give me that boat or I'll kill you!" And Penny knew that he meant exactly that.

He raised the pipe over his head. Apparently he wasn't going to wait for the party in the boat to voluntarily surrender it. Then all the noise was split by two loud crashes practically in Penny's ear.

Boom! Boom!

The man stopped in his tracks and lowered the pipe, moving as if in slow motion. The look of rage and fear on his face changed to one of shock and surprise. The pipe fell to the dock and he pawed at two bright red holes that had appeared in the middle of his chest. He fell and the people behind him ran.

In shock Penny looked at Donna.

"Penny take the wheel," her cousin shouted.

Penny scrambled behind the tiller. She had one eye on the bow of the boat as it pulled away, aiming their course for the harbor mouth. The other was riveted on Donna and the heavy pistol in her hand. The Coast Guardswoman jammed it back in the holster by her side and opened a long rigid plastic case beside her, exposing a dully finished black rifle Penny recognized as an M16. Bracing herself against the motion of the boat Donna lifted it and fired a spray of bullets over the heads of the now scattering crowd. She fired again, this time dispersing the group swarming over the stern of the next boat. Then everyone was staggering as the boat tossed wildly.

"We're being drawn back in!" Leonard shouted.

Donna leaped back to her station. She opened the engine full. Bit by bit the boat pulled away from the dock even as Penny saw the entire hillside behind the marina start to slide irresistibly towards them. Then they were surging forward as it seemed as though the entire world was rising and forcing them towards the open sea.

Penny looked back in horror as the landslide swept people under. Boats and cars and the marina buildings were hurled in the air or crushed and swallowed. She bit back a scream as her eyes locked onto a woman leaping from one exploding section of the dock to another, heedless of her safety. Desperately she hoped somehow the woman might make it to their boat or the other but she knew she wouldn't.

The woman knew it as well. With one last despairing surge of strength she threw something through the air to the boat. Instinctively Penny reached her arms out and caught that something; which turned out to be a little girl Penny guessed to be about five.

For an instant her eyes met those of the other woman. That was enough time for Penny nod, to promise that mother that she would try her best to save her child. Then the boat was thrust forward at a frightening pace and the dock, with the woman, was engulfed by the landslide.

"What's happening?" yelled Howard.

"The landslide is pushing us out to sea," responded Donna who amazingly had throttled back on the engine. Seeing the engineer's look of surprise she went on. "I just need the motor to give us steering way. The surge is carrying us out faster than the engine could. In fact right now it's not making any difference in our speed."

"Leonard?" she called. "Could you and Sheldon get a satellite hookup going to a computer? We need to see what's happening on the coast."

From inside the cabin came a wail. "Leonard we can't use my computer! The salt air isn't good for it. Why can't we use yours?"

The reply was muffled. Leonard stuck his head out of the hatchway, an object in his hand that looked like a metal flower that she knew was a satellite receiver. He positioned it and called back down into the cabin for Sheldon to start the search. He looked at his wife and his eyes opened wide.

"Guess what Leonard," Donna called to him. "You're parents now. And if you want to stay that way than find out what the hell is going on so I can plot a course. Right now I'm just letting the surge from the landslides carry us straight out from the coast but there may be cross current or giant waves or whatever coming from other coasts and undersea activities. Find out!"

"Penny? You might better take your new daughter below. Get mine to help you soothe her and check her for cuts and bruises. And please send Howard and Bernadette up here. The wind is strengthening and I think it's about time to cut the engine and start depending on the sails."

Donna must have been heard for the forward hatch opened and the Jewish-Catholic couple emerged. Howard worked his way to the main sail while Bernadette took the cover off the jib. Both looked at Penny in amazement even as she ducked into the main cabin where she found everyone clustered around Sheldon's computer.

"Should be coming up NOW," announced Leonard.

The group stared at the screen. "Sweet gentle Jesus," Sheldon whispered with all the reverence his mother could have ever wished for. Penny had been intending to work her way over to Tiffany and Daniel, Donna's twins but Sheldon's near prayer and wrenched her attention to the screen. Once she saw what it was displaying she could not take her eyes from it.

"What in God's name?" she asked softly.

"It's a new broadcast we picked up from a CNN satellite. It's maybe an hour old. Looks like we got out just in time."

Indeed they had. For what they were watching was the complete and utter destruction of Los Angeles, and obviously Pasadena and every where else nearby. Penny stood with her mouth open in shock as she watched towering buildings collapse; elevated highways tumble over and huge cracks in the ground swallow everything and everyone in sight.

They watched a small twin engine plane apparently flown by the craziest pilot the world had ever seen fly down UNDER a subway train that was falling into an enormous hole. That same plane stood on one wing and actually flew between two skyscrapers that had fallen against each other, each supporting the other just long enough for the plane to make its escape before falling in mutual ruin.

There was no place for the terrified people to run, no safety to be found. Penny realized dazedly that she was seeing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and only the foresight of her husband and their friends had enabled them to survive. So far. The final sight before the picture was lost was of the entire coastal areas of the city toppling into the Pacific Ocean.

"That explains the wave that pushed us out this far this fast," commented Raj.

"By the time that wave reaches the other side of the Pacific it will be enormous," Leslie added as she fiddled with another computer also linked to the antenna. "And trying to go inland wouldn't have worked. The Yellowstone Cauldron is beginning to erupt. The reports from the Geological Survey are fragmentary but it s possible, probable even, that the explosion will wipe out the middle of the US and Canada."

"Can you get anything from NOAA?" Donna called down. "Especially any of the satellites watching the Pacific?"

Leonard and Sheldon went into conference mood. Penny was happy to see that for once Sheldon was not only acting like a grown up but was acting like a grown up who was neither stuck-up or demanding to be the center of the universe. She supposed that would come later.

"The whole West Coast is collapsing and spreading inland. There's increased volcanic activity throughout the entire Pacific rim. In Hawaii the Kilauea volcano has begun a major eruption and Mauna Loa is showing signs of building pressure not seen in living memory. People are trying to flee but one tsunami has already hit the Big Island and most of the boats there have been destroyed."

Raj jumped in. "This has nothing to do with us but Europe is as bad as the West Coast. Half of the British Isles have sunk. The White Cliffs of Dover collapsed and indeed created a mega tsunami that swamped the whole Northern French Coastline. Dikes in the low country have collapsed. Not just some, pretty much all. Earthquakes are raging across previously unknown fault lines."

"The US government is trying to evacuate the Eastern Seaboard. The waves are coming. But the shocks there have already destroyed airports and railroads and highways. Oh and there seem to be an number of key figures missing although the President is still in DC."

Penny pulled her attention away from the conversation as the little girl in her arms whimpered. She made her way to Tiffany and Daniel, who immediately surrounded their "Aunt Penny" and the new arrival.

"Shhhhhhh," Penny comforted the blonde girl. "What's your name sweetie?"

"My name is Michelle," she replied. "Where's my mommy? I want my mommy."

"Michelle your mommy," Penny faltered summoned her courage and carried on. "You mommy can't be here but she gave you to me to take care of you. And I will. I promised her and I promise you."

"Okay," Michelle sounded uncertain but willing to trust this unexpected new woman who held her.

"Sweetheart can you sit here with Tiffany and Daniel while I do some things?" The blonde girl looked unsure again but the warm smiles the two slightly older children gave her along with outstretched welcoming hands sealed the deal. She nodded. "You two look after her okay?"

"Yes Aunt Penny."

Penny went out to assist Donna at the tiller.

"Thanks. My arms are killing me."

She looked around. The sails were drawing and the boat was dancing across the water even with the engine shut down. Howard and Bernadette were keeping a close eye on the sails, ready to adjust them if need be.

"Where are we headed?"

"We've been going due west so far. I wanted to reach deep water where we'll be safer. There's nearly a thousand feet under us now," Donna nodded at the depth finder mounted at the front of the cockpit. "Based on what the guys have found out so far I'm going to start running south now. But keep an eye on the radar. If anything comes at us it probably will be from the east.

"I need to eat something and rest. I hope we can continue on through the night. If so I need to be alert and awake."

She disappeared into the cabin. Shortly Leonard came out and joined her.

"How's it look?" she asked him.

"It's all getting worse. Everywhere. The US is basically toast. The good news is that the western coast of South America seems to be holding its own, particularly the line of the Andes mountains. We're making good speed. Believe it or not we're almost even with San Diego. But to get that far south will take weeks."

They sailed the rest of the day. The concentrated food rations they had packed were filling although not particularly tasty. Everyone ignored Sheldon's complaints, although Amy finally suggested if her boyfriend wanted Chinese he could swim back to Pasadena.

Night came and Donna returned to the tiller. Howard and Bernadette shortened sail. Penny joined Leonard and the two them cuddled Michelle between them. Exhausted they fell asleep in short order. Leslie manned the computers at first but it was Raj's voice that woke them in the middle of the night.

"Donna. Something's wrong."

(To be continued) 


	6. A Storm Brewing Inside

I Need a Hero, Chapter 6 by patricia51

(A Storm Brewing Inside)

"Donna. Something's wrong."

Donna groaned. Well, surviving the end of the world DID promise to be a tiring business. But she had yet to decide which would be more likely to do her in; the upheaval of the Earth such as no one had seen probably since the creation or Sheldon Cooper; BS, MA, MS, ScD, PHD and monumental pain in the ass.

When the momentum of the landslide of a good part of the California coast had let go of them to race across the Pacific at five hundred miles an hour to smash into the coasts on the other side of the Pacific she had finally been able to take a break from the helm. Going into the cabin for a bite she had seen the rest of the adults staring at sheaves of computer printouts. With an expression on his face that could only be described as smug triumph Sheldon had thrust into her hands what she assumed to be her copy of whatever-the-hell it was.

"Now that everyone is here, or at least everyone who counts is here, although I suppose there really was no need to wait for Donna regardless of your insistence Penny. We can get started.

"Now each of you will find your roles in our adventure laid out. Rest assured that I will be fair but firm with all of you as long as you do your various jobs." He gestured towards the bow and the small bedroom/storage area located at the foc'sle. "My office will be open at all times except when the door is closed. Now if you all will turn to page two... what are you doing Donna?"

Donna made Sheldon nervous. He didn't know why. It was because she tended to treat him exactly like he treated others but that thought never occurred to him. She didn't refuse to drive him places or do things he needed done; she simply ignored his requests as though she never heard them. He shuddered recalling the terrible meeting they had just two months ago.

(Two months previously)

Sheldon groaned. He coughed. Rolling towards the nightstand he grabbed the aural thermometer there and placed the tip in his ear. He waited until it beeped and looked at the display.

"Oh dear Lord," he muttered. Raising his voice he called out. "Leonard I'm sick!"

He had managed to sit up, swing his legs to the side of the bed and don his slippers. He had wobbled slightly as he stood up, clutching a blanket around his shoulders. He coughed and then made a sound rather like a honk when he tried to cough again while sneezing. He staggered out of his bedroom and looked around.

"Leonard? Leonard where are you? I'm sick."

Then he remembered. Obviously he was in danger of becoming delusional. He had forgot, for the moment, that Leonard had cruelly abandoned him under the absurd pretext that being married to Penny meant that the Roommate Agreement was no longer in force. Just because he didn't live here anymore he acted as though it was void. Ridiculous. And he STILL had not apologized for winning what should have been his, Sheldon Cooper's, Nobel Prize.

No point in calling anyone he supposed. He shuffled across the hall. Remembering the last time he was sick he knew what would happen. Everyone acted as though taking care of him, a mind that came along only once or twice a generation, was a chore rather than an opportunity that should be embraced as the honor it was. Why couldn't they see it?

When he reached the door he knocked, wheezing as he did.

"Donna. Donna. Donna."

The door opened to reveal the object of his request in her utility uniform.

"Yes Sheldon?"

"Donna I'm sick." He proceeded to prove it by sneezing.

"Yikes!" The woman disappeared. While Sheldon was trying to decide if he should follow her in or continue to wait she reappeared.

"Here." He looked down to see a surgical type mask being thrust into his face. "Put this on."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want your germs around me; much less around my children." She punctuated her statement by lifting a can of Lysol and spraying the air all around him.

"Don't do that!" Sheldon stumbled backwards, trying to avoid the disinfectant cloud.

"I don't understand. Isn't this how you react when you think someone around you might be sick?"

"Yes but I'm already sick so it doesn't matter now," he explained.

"Back over there. Put your mask on and then you can tell me what you want."

Grumpily he complied. Didn't she understand? The damage was already done. Further precautions were pointless. Still he supposed it wouldn't hurt to comply. So he did.

"Now what do you want?"

Want indeed. She still didn't get it. It was what he NEEDED. "I NEED soup. I NEED my blanket picked up off the floor. I NEED a sponge bath. I NEED my chest rubbed."

"So what you NEED," interrupted Donna. "Is someone to take care of you hand and foot?"

Well she finally got it, he thought triumphantly. "Yes!"

"If you can't take of yourself, being a grown man, excuse me a grown male than call and hire a nurse to take care of you. But it sure ain't gonna be me." With that Donna ushered her children out of the door, instructing them to "stay away from the sick man" and the trio disappeared down the stairs.

Goodness he had thought. That was the most distressing refusal he had received since the time he had called Leonard in the North Sea and summoned him home to take care of him. He hadn't even known Leonard had known some of the words he had used.

He admitted later, if only to himself, that at least on the surface of it the idea of hiring a nurse to care for him had seemed like a good idea. It had failed miserably though. In the three days it had taken him to recover no fewer than ten nurses had quit on him, seven of them without warning. Since he had used three different agencies he was quite baffled at what might be the connecting link between all those abrupt desertions. He finally decided it must be how California ran its Nursing Licensing program and fired off a number of strongly worded emails to them. There were no replies. Why did no one ever reply to his emails?

(Present)

Once she had gathered up everyone's copy of his directive, including his own, Donna dropped them all in the open box of paper.

"Wrong Sheldon."

"Wrong? What?"

"All of it. This is not the bridge of the Enterprise. You are not the Captain, First Officer, Chief Helmsman and Science Officer and whatever else you might have appointed yourself. The forward cabin is not your office; it's where the children will be sleeping along with whatever adult or adults are with them. I suggest that will mostly be Penny and Leonard since they had suddenly and unexpectedly become parents and need to bond with their new daughter."

"Now then Sheldon, do you have a Coast Guard issued ticket as a Third, Second or First Mate or a Master Mariner's Ticket?" Without waiting for what she knew would be a negative answer smothered in a great deal of irrelevant protests she went on. "Do you have ANY training or experience at small craft handling, water safety, sailing, boat maintenance and repair or navigation? Do you even have something as easily obtained as a California Boater Education Certificate?"

"So here is how it is Sheldon. You're not commanding this boat, which by the way is the 'Sloop John B'. I am. Not only am I the only trained and qualified boat handler but everyone else agreed to that."

Sheldon stood up. "I move that the tyrannical regime of Captain Bligh, aka Donna Greene, be immediately ended and another Captain appointed. All in favor?" He raised his hand and looked around in expectation. No one else moved.

"Do I hear a second?" Leonard asked dryly, remembering numerous Emergency Roommate Conferences. "No? The motion fails to gain a second and is therefore not to be even brought to the floor for discussion before it's voted down."

Taking a deep breath Sheldon launched into one of his famous and loud filibusters such as had successfully carried him into different positions such as Safety Director, Paintball Team Captain and other positions. He was confident that he could outlast and out talk everyone else until they gave it. He had forgotten Donna's command voice.

"All in favor of taking Sheldon Cooper on deck, tying him to the anchor and dropping him overboard please assist me in doing just that."

When every single adult in the crowded cabin stood up Sheldon shut up. Why everyone was so upset with him he didn't know. He simply was trying to organize things. This seemed to happen a lot so he accepted that this was not the time to assert himself. He stopped reciting the Declaration of Independence and sat down.

"Now that we seem to have agreement," Donna said in a voice so dry it was positively arid, "let's go over the ground rules. Or water rules perhaps would be better. Speaking of water we have a pair of two hundred and fifty gallon water tanks on board as well as cases and cases of bottled water. It will all go too soon. We will be setting up the two solar stills but replenishing will be slow. So all bathing and clothes washing will be salt water. I know; a salt water bath is like making love wearing a high altitude flying suit and gloves. It's unsatisfactory. But necessary. Fresh water is for drinking."

Donna went on to lay out the rest of the guidelines, almost all of which had been agreed upon by the group in various meetings before hand. Different people had been studying things that would be of great need to them in the following days. Howard had turned his engineer's mind to the boat's engine and mechanical equipment to such an extent he could not only repair most parts of the diesel but could fix problems with the sail winches and other items. Leslie had turned her attention to electronics while Raj had commenced a study of seismic activities, particularly under the sea. Leonard's already vast knowledge of computers along with Howard's demonstrated ability to hack into most systems had given them unprecedented access to critically needed information, the success of which was proved by their survival so far. Everyone had learned at least something of handling the boat, particularly the sails. Bernadette and Amy had plunged into courses that saw them now as freshly certified First Responders. And Penny had proven to be a jack of all trades and the best sailor after Donna herself.

As the meeting broke up Donna managed to catch Amy's eye. She jerked her head towards Sheldon. Amy nodded and headed for her boyfriend. Donna sighed. Whether Sheldon believed it or not she was glad that they had saved the brilliant theoretical physicist. After all, geniuses were NOT generally noted as genial, friendly people but rather tended to be crabby, self-important and highly opinionated. All of which described Sheldon perfectly. She really hoped she would not have to tie him to the anchor. Actually that was silly. Why waste a perfectly good anchor. Let him SWIM back to dry land, assuming it could be found.

"A final word. One basic rule here for those of you with access to the New Testament and apologies to Howard and Raj but a quick examination of Second Thessalonians Chapter 3 Verse 10 should prove useful."

After further discussions with Raj and Leonard in particular she altered course again, once more standing straight out from whatever was left of the US West Coast. Raj informed her that at least two more massive ocean waves had passed under them in the last hour. He couldn't tell but there was always the possibility one was headed their way. The two he had monitored still the long waves not yet showing above the surface. She shuddered at what they would be like on the far side of the sea. The power Raj described was terrifying.

She caught a nap, snuggled with her children. A smile crossed her face just before she fell asleep. Penny was singing softly to her new daughter Michelle. Donna hoped her cousin knew something beside "Soft Kitty".

At dusk she had relieved Leslie at the helm and everyone had settled down. Muted beeps came occasionally as first Leonard and then Raj checked the boat's radar. To her surprise she had heard a low pitched conversation between Leonard and Sheldon that actually sounded pleasant and free from any argument. Maybe Amy had talked to him and got him to understand the situation a bit better.

It was the middle of the night. All had been calm so far. Once she had heard the sound of a jet far overhead. It must have been huge for that to happen. Beyond that there were no planes and no other vessels. Then Raj spoke urgently.

"Donna. Something's wrong."

"What is it Raj?" she asked, thanking her stars that the Indian astrophysicist had finally overcome his inability to speak to women.

"It's the radar. It' showing something, I don't even know what it is."

Locking the tiller in place she slipped to the door of the cabin where she could see the screen. Her face paled.

"What is it?" Raj gulped as he noted his friend's reaction.

"It's a storm. A huge storm. And it's bearing right down on us."

(To be continued)

(By the way II Thessalonians 3:10 says (basically) "He who will not work shall not eat".)


	7. And Outside

I Need a Hero, Chapter 7 by patricia51

(And Outside)

"It's a storm. A huge storm. And it's bearing right down on us."

Donna paled as she took in the size of the radar return. She scrambled back out of the cabin to the tiller. "Everyone up," she yelled. "All hands on deck."

Quickly she gave instructions as everyone poured sleepy-eyed out of the cabin. Penny and Bernadette, get the mail sail down all the way and the cover over it. Then help Leonard set the storm jib up front. Howard stand by the engine, we may need it. Amy and Leslie over there," Donna pointed at a compartment built into the side of the cockpit, "there's a heavy canvas cover for here." She indicated the space around her and pointed to brass stanchions all around the cockpit. "Get it out ands start lacing it in place. Sheldon," she hollered at the only adult member of the crew besides Raj who had not put in an appearance. "Close the forward hatch from inside the front cabin and dog it down."

"Do WHAT to it?"

"Turn the locking lugs to the closed position. Then check the portholes in the main cabin and make sure they are all closed. And everyone get on your lifejackets."

Amazingly there was no outburst from the cabin by Sheldon. A few moments later Donna saw the front hatch close and even over the steadily building wind she heard the locks click. Even more amazingly immediately after that Sheldon was heard correcting the children s' donning of their life vests and actually reassuring them. Maybe she wouldn't have to drop him overboard after all.

The rest of the friends scrambled down into the cockpit and then into the cabin. Donna had donned a safety harness that should hold her to the boat unless and until it shattered. Penny handed her a thick rain proof jacket and hat. As Donna started to pull the cover up around her to her surprise she saw her cousin Don a similar out fit after fastening herself into a second harness.

"What are you doing?"

"You might be the greatest seafarer ever, a combination of Captain Cook, Christopher Columbus and Horatio Hornblower but you are NOT going to be able to handle the boat single-handedly. So here I am." Suiting her actions to her words the blonde took her place beside Donna, snugly fastening the cover that should help keep water out of the boat around them.

Just in time. For the darkness in front of them blackened to completely blot out the stars and the crescent moon.

"It's as black as the Earl of Hell's waistcoat," yelled Donna. "But that won't last."

Penny thought that would be a good thing. At first. When the first blot of lightning split the heaves and plunged somewhere into the ocean ahead of them she would have gladly had the darkness back. That would have concealed the towering swells, the angry dark clouds and the coming band of rain. She couldn't comment though because the first blast of wind hit them and snatched the words from her mouth.

She was right though. It took both women to hang on to the tiller and keep the bow pointed into the teeth of the storm. Originally Penny had half wondered even during the few minutes of frantic preparation why her cousin hadn't spun the boat and made a run for it. It was clear that they never could have escaped and the blunt stern of the boat would have made a much better target for the terrific gusts of wind and the pounding waves.

"I never thought all that time at the gym would be used like this," she thought to herself. Beside her she could feel Donna's muscles bunching as she threw her strength and Penny's into the desperate struggle to keep them from being ridden down by the storm. Breakers smashed against the bow and water cascaded back along the deck to be diverted back into the ocean by the stout cover around them. The wind slapped at their faces, making it almost impossible to see the sea that was now continually illuminated by constant flashes of lightning.

Donna and Howard had come up with little belt radios with headsets so whomever was at the helm could communicate with the operator of the radar, depth finder and hopefully satellite uplinked computer. In the last minute realization that any exposed electronics would be hopelessly drowned Raj had snatched up a piece of flexible tubing originally designed to do who-knew-what. Routed through a small porthole at the back of the cabin one end was jammed between the two girls where both could bend their heads, and ears, to it. At the other end of the improvised voice tube Raj shouted instructions and gave description of the storm's activities as best he could.

Hours went by. It seemed like days. Twice during slight lulls Leonard crawled under the cover to them to pass them coffee, hot soup and protein bars. It was shortly after the second trip that the storm reached its peak.

Penny leaned over, pressing her lips close to Donna's ear and the speaking tube.

"Donna. The mast!"

The Coast Guardswoman could only nod. She too had been watching it whip back and forth, bending alarming. Even scarier was the mount where the aluminum shaft bolted the base to the deck was showing signs of tearing loose. IT had been a calculated gamble, leaving the mast and the storm jib up but they had needed the leverage of the small sail to help them hold the bow into the face of the storm.

"Raj?"

"Yes Donna?"

"Have Howard stand by the engine. I think we might need it."

"Okay." There was a pause. "He says just give the word."

For a few more minutes the girls continued to watch the mast and hang on grimly to the tiller. Then Penny lifted her head. Like her cousin she had been crouched down as much as possible under the canvas cover. Only their heads had been exposed and as much as possible those were bent forward to keep as much spray out of their faces as they could.

"Donna? Is it just me or is it getting lighter?"

Even as she yelled she realized that the wind was beginning to drop as well. She could clearly hear Donna now without shouting.

"I think it's breaking up and I think dawn is near."

"We made it?"

"Looks like it."

Donna would have to admit later that of all the words she had said in her life that tempted fate none where more ill-timed that those three. For even as Penny looked around and suddenly froze, her face ashen in the morning light Raj all but screamed from the cabin.

"Donna! Something bearing about thirty degrees off the bow to port. Something huge!"

The Coast Guard's face turned as white as Penny's. She wrenched the tiller and yelled back.

"Howard. Start the engine. NOW. Full power."

The diesel engine roared, blowing smoke from the fantail. "Thank God." She still didn't take her eyes from the sight. Death, in the form of a towering wall of water, was coming for them.

Later on research and discussion would conclude that this was actually the backwash from the titanic wave that had smashed into the coast of China and many other places along the far side of the Pacific Rim. What the original mega-tsunami must have looked like they couldn't even imagine. But right now they had all they could handle with the remnants.

While she was busy thanking God, and Howard, about the engine starting immediately Donna had a couple of other things to be thankful for. The first was that the wave was coming from just slightly to one side. Already the boat was responding to the tiller and she felt sure they would be ready to meet the wave bow first when it reached them. Had it come from right off the boat's beam they would have been in serious trouble.

The other good thing was that although the wave towered in the sky it was not showing any signs of developing a crest yet that could catch them and flip them as they neared the top. The slope was scary but Donna thought they had a chance.

The engine roaring they charged the wave. Donna yelled for everyone to hold on, knowing at the same time that if they failed that the life jackets she had ordered donned would be no use at all.

Up they climbed, as though the water was a rock wall they were scaling. Cries of alarm erupted from the cabin as the people slide along the increasingly steeped deck. Donna prayed that Howard was holding on. Thank God again; diesel engines are fuel injected, a carburetor engine would have chocked out by now. Along with penny they held the tiller in a death grip. The bow rose further. The sight of the wave was being replaced by the sky.

Just as they almost reached the top there as a "Ping" as a guy wire for the mast snapped. It was followed by another and yet another. Then the mast was falling; straight towards them.

"Duck Penny!" Donna shouted. Measuring the falling aluminum tube she decided it would just miss her but her cousin was in jeopardy. And what would happen after the first impact?

The pair had loosened the canvas cover as the storm had died down. This gave Penny the room she needed to drop below the sides of the cockpit and roll out of the way. Barely. The impact made the stern bounce wildly and called forth even more shouts from the rest of the group. Then the boat shuddered, the bow dropped and they were sliding down the back side of the wave into astonishly calm waters as though the wave was pushing the storm ahead of them.

"Penny. Penny! Are you alright?" Donna struggled to push back the cover that had deflected the water throughout the night. Since the mast lay on top of it the job wasn't easy.

"I'm okay," came the muffled reply and then a tousled blonde head poked up through the open cover. She surveyed the tangle of wires and ropes. "What a mess."

Laughter bubbled up inside Donna so strongly for an instant she worried she might be hysterical. Calming herself she leaned down and yelled for Howard to cut the engine. The two girls looked at each other and then dove into the cabin where Penny embraced her husband and squeezed their new daughter between them while Donna clutched her two children.

Sighs of relief and grins were exchanged all around. Even Sheldon seemed to be subdued. By complete mutual consent everyone took a few minutes to fix coffee, already dwindling but definitely needed after the night they all had, and then breakfast. Sheldon was astonished to find that on Oatmeal Day it was actually available.

After eating everyone turned to checking the boat and starting repairs. The mast seemed hopeless but the booms were saved and Leonard and Leslie carefully gathered up the loose wire and ropes and all the gear that could be salvaged. Howard checked and rechecked the engine and its mounts. Everyone else besides Donna and Penny cleaned up the cabin and stowed the invaluable canvas cover.

The two girls went swimming. That is they spent over an hour in and out of the water inspecting the hull. Amazingly there was little damage and none that could not be repaired, Donna having laid in a supply of items for just that purpose.

Once order had been restored Raj fixed their position and the group gathered around the deck to debate how they might rig a make-shift mast and get under way, once they knew where they wanted to go.

It was while they were discussing the availability of land that Leslie climbed up on top of the cabin and braced her, shading her eyes with her hand.

"What is it Leslie" asked Donna.

"I'm sure it's nothing," grumbled Sheldon who, end of the world or not, was NEVER going to forgive the female physicist for winning his Nobel Prize with Leonard any more than he had ever forgiven her for correcting his equation on his white board once. The fact that she was right was completely irrelevant.

"I think it's a boat," Leslie replied, paying no mind to Sheldon.

Donna dived into the cabin to emerge with a pair of binoculars. She sprang up beside the shorter women and looked through the lenses.

"It IS a boat." she lowered the glasses and looked grim. "A capsized one."

Penny held up a wetted finger. "Well if we can rig that mast we can sail right over to it."

"Let's get started."

(To be continued) 


	8. A Rescue

I Need a Hero, Chapter 8 by patricia51

(A Rescue)

Donna wetted a finger and stuck it up in the air. Regardless of satellites and everything else sometimes it was still the easiest and most certain way to determine which way the wind was coming from. She turned the tiller.

"Coming about," she called. Penny, Raj, Howard and to her surprise Sheldon sprang to the jury-rigged sail, pulling the ropes to bring the makeshift boom and sail to the other side of the boat. True Sheldon at first pulled the wrong way, barely dodged the boom and nearly fell overboard but he was trying. Perhaps Amy had a good talking to him. Perhaps he was starting to accept that this tiny universe at least did not revolve around him. But time would tell and in the meantime they needed to close on the craft Leslie had spotted.

It took about half an hour to reach the capsized boat. Leonard balanced on the bow, wielding a boat hook. Numerous lines and pieces of spars bobbed in the water around the upside down hull. Just about everyone else lined the deck, keeping an eye out for debris that might endanger their own boat.

"Got it," Leonard called out as he snagged a line that seemed to be wrapped firmly around the other craft's bow. Penny rushed to his side as the sail came down and they gently pulled until the two boats gently touched, with only a couple of old tires that had amazingly not been torn from their lashings during the storm used as bumpers to keep them apart.

The "John B" was longer than the other boat so Donna was able to look at the stern of the overturned derelict. She shook her head in sadness.

"What is it?" asked Bernadette who was closest to her.

"That name, the 'Yet Again'. It was the boat that was next to us at the marina. I guess they got out as well but they didn't ride out the storm last night."

The two hulls pumped together as the stern drifted away slightly, bringing the bows to touch for a moment. Donna opened her mouth to tell Leonard to be more careful and then shut it without saying a word for two reasons.

The first reason was that Leonard was trying as hard as he could and yelling wasn't going to help. It wasn't like Sheldon. He often needed to be brought back to the real world and his feet placed on the ground, although Amy was working very hard on that. Besides, she admitted to herself. Sometimes it was really fun pricking Sheldon's bubble of self-confidence when it was completely out of place.

The second and over-riding reason she shut up was because no sooner had the sound died away from the hulls tapping together than a muffled cry for help was heard through the bottom of the other craft.

"Oh my GOD," gasped Penny. "There's someone alive in there!"

For a few minutes there was chaos on board the "Sloop John B". Things calmed quickly though. The larger boat was slowly and oh so carefully pulled in tightly against the other one and secured. Penny made sure that the knots on the ropes fastening the two together could be released in a hurry if ("God forbid," she thought) the other craft started to sink. Under Howard's direction a few salvaged pieces of wood were used to construct a make-shift gangway between them. Once completed Penny and Bernadette crawled out on it to the other hull.

Penny tapped carefully on the slippery wood. "Hello?"

"We're here!" came a woman's voice. "We're in the cabin."

It turned out that the boat was indeed the one that had been docked beside theirs at the marina. The woman and her two sons had survived the storm but had failed to crest the wave and been capsized. Fortunately that had happened right at the crest so they had not been pulled under.

"But something seems to be blocking the cabin door. It opens out and we can't move it but a few inches. No more water floods in so apparently the air level is the same there as in here. But there air in here will only last so long. We were debating trying to cut through the hull somehow when we heard you."

"Don't do anything yet," Donna said. She rummaged through the lockers, coming out with one of the underwater flashlights that she and Penny had used before and a couple of emergency breathers. "Let's take a look."

"Not you," Penny said firmly. "You are too valuable. Without you this ocean becomes shit creek and all of us will be up it. I'll go."

"No you won't either. You're a brand new if unexpected mom," demurred Leslie. "I'll look. I'm the smallest and if there's anything that can be done I'll get a couple of the guys."

Donna nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Be careful. You have about fifteen minutes worth of oxygen in this canister. Watch out for the sail and cables. DON'T get stuck."

Leslie nodded. The petite physicist stripped down to her bra and panties and slipped into the water off the stern. She ducked under with the breather and a pair of goggles. Surfacing a few moments later she gave a thumbs up to indicate all the equipment was working. Bubbles marked her path until she went under the other boat. Everyone in unison chewed their nails, fidgeted or other wise acted nervously for the about five minutes that seemed like no more than an hour or two until Leslie surfaced again.

"Got it!" she called triumphantly. "A spar had got pinned across the hatch but when I pushed it down it slid from the rope holding it and drifted off. They should be good."

Donna leaned down while Penny and Bernadette passed on the good news to the trapped trio. She handed Leslie a belt with a wicked looking saw-backed knife in a scabbard attached to it. "Just in case you have to cut something. You never know when those ropes will drift BACK to where they were." After she had buckled it on Donna gave her another breather. "Shuttle them one at a time," she requested.

It wasn't long before Leslie appeared again, this time with a woman in tow. Donna recognized her, it definitely was the same woman who had called they were waiting for her husband. Eager hands pulled her into the boat and rushed her below where Amy was waiting with a blanket and Sheldon with hot beverages that for once were exactly what was needed. In short order the small woman appeared twice more each time with a teenaged boy. Both were also shivering from their hours' long dunk in the half-flooded cabin.

The trio was deeply thankful to the whole crew and even Sheldon held still for a hug from Sheila, the mom, who grabbed him as the nearest rescuer. Their story turned out pretty much as Donna had suspected.

"After you drove off those people with your rifle the surge from the landslides hurled us out of the harbor too. We had one line still attached to the dock but the force of the water simply tore the deck cleat loose." Tears filled her eyes. "I never heard from my husband. I guess he's gone."

Sheila and both of her boys, William and Harry, were all pretty fair weekend sailors and had managed to get out into deep water and safety. They had ridden the storm but their electronics were not the match of the ones Leonard had installed in the "John B" and the towering wave had caught them by surprise. They had nearly made the turn into it but had been caught and carried for nearly an hour before the boat turned turtle.

"Strangely enough being carried that far was a good thing," Donna commented. "You apparently were well north of us and had you capsized then we never would have found you."

The group remained fastened to the overturned craft while the rescued threesome rested and even slept. Then it was time for a serious discussion.

"Obviously there is no way we can repair your boat. But there is no question about abandoning you," Donna hastily reassured the trio. "At the same time though your being on board puts a strain on our supplies, much less the living space we all need."

"Nothing can be done about the last thing," Leonard pointed out, "but we need to augment our supplies with anything we can salvage from your boat."

"Of course," said Sheila. "We weren't nearly as prepared for what happened as you were but when we realized that something terrible was happening and decided to flee in the boat we stocked the car with all the canned food and bottled drinks we could grab. When you opened that gate we were right behind you and the boys loaded it as I tried to get us cast off ready. And we always kept some supplies, water and staples like crackers and peanut butter and such, on board."

The group went to work. Free swimming now the guys cleared the entrance to the cabin. Sheila told them where items had been stored but admitted that it was obvious that the boat's capsizing had dislodged everything. Still, careful searching recovered a fair amount of still sealed food and water as well as other supplies such as batteries and yet another solar still which was added to the two already set up and going on top of the deck of the "John B". Booms, spars and an extra jib were saved.

The crowning achievement belonged to Howard though. After numerous trips and with exquisite care he managed to run a hose between the fuel tanks and siphon the wreck's diesel to refill their own fuel supply. He also managed to detach two propane bottles from the other craft's stove, giving them more to cook with themselves. Even Sheldon admitted that "Perhaps Engineering was not such an unimportant skill after all".

Once the salvage was complete everyone cleaned up as best as they could and sat down to eat. The discussion turned to pretty much the favorite subjects; was the apocalypse over and if so where should they go?

"Not to mention where we are," added Donna, she and Raj having lost complete track of where they were when the storm knocked out the boat's GPS.

"We need to gather information," Leonard said.

"But we need to charge the laptops' batteries and the satellite receiver first," commented Leslie. "Howard are the engine's batteries strong enough for that or would it be better to run the engine first?"

Howard considered the question for a minute before replying. "We ran the engine during the storm and the batteries should be nearly fully charged. On the other hand we now have nearly full fuel tanks so we could spare some if needed."

"Why don't you check the state of the charge and then monitor it?" Sheldon suggested. "If the draw reaches a point you begin to think it might compromise our ability to instantly start the engines than you can warn us."

Everyone starred at Sheldon who simply shrugged. The science group pitched in while the rest went to work on the boat and the supplies. Raj shortly had their position.

"My Lord we're THAT far south and west?" marveled Penny. "That storm blew us farther than we could have imagined.

"Far enough that heading for America doesn't seem to be an option," put in Leonard who with Sheldon and Leslie had been up linking with various satellites to observe as much of the Earth as they could. "The flooding of North America seems to have stopped in the west at the Sierra Nevada Mountains and in the East by the Appalachian chain although gaps in both allowed the water to penetrate much farther in spots. But the center of the country was devastated by the Yellowstone Cauldron eruption."

"And as for South America," said Leslie, "well, the Andes are about all that's left."

"How about New Zealand or Australia? We know Asia took a tremendous beating but how about Africa?"

"We can't tell for sure right now because we're limited to satellites we have a line-of-sight with since the ground repeater stations all seem to be gone but it looks like the devastation is less the farther south you go in the Pacific. The wiping out of South America came from earthquakes and waves from the Atlantic."

"So we continue west." Donna looked around at the assembled group. "Are we agreed?"

Nods came from everyone. Suddenly, amazingly Sheldon grinned, a grin with no condescension or superiority in it. He held Amy's hand with his left and pointed at Donna with his right in a familiar gesture to the rest of the guys.

"Make it so!"

As everyone sprang to raise the sails Howard had a passing thought. Maybe he wouldn't need to finish making that crossbow after all.

(To be continued)

(My thanks to Robert12774 for reminding me about the crossbow Howard was building "Just in case" during "The Monopolar Expedition".)


	9. Communication

I Need a Hero, Chapter 9 by patricia51

(Communication)

It was quiet. There were a few sounds; the hiss of the hull cutting through the water, the creak of the sail, the click of the winch as the tension of a stay was slightly adjusted, the snort of Howard's snoring which often caused the entire group to drive him up to sleep on deck as far as possible from everyone else. But these were sounds that were familiar. Soothing even. Well except the snoring perhaps.

Penny sighed contentedly as Leonard sat back down from his sail adjustment. Michelle snuggled between them. All three heads tipped up to view the once unfamiliar stars.

"Which one is that Daddy Leonard?" the little girl inquired.

Leonard peeked at his laptop, the screen carefully shielded to avoid lessening Penny's night vision.

"That's Achernar. It means 'the end of the river' and it's called that because it's the very last star in the constellation Eridanus which is known as..."

"The river," the little girl clapped her hands and crowed with glee.

"Exactly." Leonard ruffled their informally adopted daughter's hair. "Very good munchkin."

Michelle sighed dramatically. "I am NOT a munchkin am I Mommy Penny?"

"Just sometimes sweetie." The girl, satisfied somehow with that answer, squirmed between the two of them. Shortly her breathing became regular as she dropped off to sleep.

No moon was up but the starlight, the leakage from Leonard's computer and the red glow of the compass were enough. The two adults smiled at each other. Careful not to disturb the sleeping girl they leaned towards one another and kissed.

"I never thought I would say this. Here we are far out in the ocean, having escaped a world-wide disaster that has wiped away not only our home but most of the world. We're in a sailboat of all things, a thousand miles from land and I'm out of Dramamine. In an instant we were made parents by the incredible sacrifice of a desperate mother. We don't know when we'll find land. Our supplies are limited. We're trapped on this small boat with Sheldon Cooper. And I have never been so happy in all of my life."

Another kiss ensued.

"I know," said Penny. She paid the gentlest of kisses on the top of the sleeping child's head.

"She is so beautiful," said Leonard.

"And more and more accepting of us and the relationship we're building with her. Although she's blocked out much of what happened before somehow she knows that her mother gave her to us. And taking an interest in the world around us, small though that world is."

"And then there's the names."

"Yes." Penny pondered. "She's not ready to give up her birth mother and father. And we certainly won't try to make her do that. But she's beginning to feel like our child; that we are her parents. Right now though she's unsure so she adds our names to the titles. That's fine."

They sat in comfortable silence for a little while before Penny suggested that Leonard go ahead and power down the computer.

"Might as well save the battery charge even with Howard's latest additions."

"Good idea," her husband returned. The screen light faded out as he shut down.

Howard had been a bundle of energy and ideas lately, aided and cheered on by Bernadette. Using materials specifically salvaged from the other boat and some scraps from theirs as well he had first constructed a working solar cell. That had been followed by a windmill mounted over the engine compartment that could be hooked to drive the diesel's alternator. Run through a convertor either source could be used to power and recharge appliances including the laptops.

His last addition had been a solar hot water heater that could also be used as a still. Even a sea water shower was better when it was hot all agreed. And its use as an additional solar still had doubled the amount of fresh water available to them each day.

Sheldon had been behaving much better recently but the applause that Howard was receiving for his accomplishments had awoke his jealousy. Unable to match them except in esoteric language and mathematical equations that he was forced to write in the air due to the lack of any boards to write on and the refusal of the group to allot him fresh paper ("You used every bit of your share with your attempt to appoint yourself Captain"). He had however triumphantly proved conclusively that Howard's wind-powered generator system would not work just as the MIT engineer brought it on line. Since, of course, he hadn't made a mistake it could only mean... he couldn't figure out what it meant. He wasn't even sure he could define what "it" was.

As it turned out that confusion led to an earth-shaking and completely life-changing event. Brooding all day he took advantage of Howard actually having a snore-free night to sit on deck at the bow that night all alone. All alone until Amy joined him. And when the sun rose the next morning to find two no-longer inexperienced people sleeping in each other's arms Sheldon found he was looking at the world with new eyes.

"Whoever would have thought that all we had to do to get Sheldon to act like a human being was to get him laid?" mused Howard as the group watched Sheldon and Amy skylarking on the bow like teenagers.

"I once told you everything comes down to sex," Leslie commented.

"Testify," agreed Howard although now he said it almost automatically and without the slightest sexual innuendo of old as he sat with his arm around Bernadette.

Shouts and splashes over the side drew everyone's attention away from the, unbelievably, frolicking couple at the bow. Everyone smiled. Michelle was splashing water at Leonard while being carefully supported by Penny's arms around her. The two teen boys, William and Harry, were each towing one of Donna's kids around on their backs, the younger ones arms securely if loosely wrapped around their necks.

Today the wind had died down to nothing at all. There was no point in starting the engine; they knew perfectly well that they could not cover a fraction of the distance to even New Zealand before running out of fuel. So they had lowered the sail, rigged awnings to shade them from the sun and made a day of relaxation of it. It was just coincidence it happened to take place the morning after Sheldon and Amy had finally finalized their relationship on a carnal level.

The "John B" had a ladder permanently fixed on the stern leading from the cockpit down to the water. Another one had been hung temporarily on the port side in the shade. It was part of Donna's rules that anytime anyone was in the water there would be at least two ways for anyone to climb back up. There was even a rolled up rope ladder on the starboard side that could be pulled down with a piece of rope attached to it and hanging down to the water's edge.

"No one is going to reenact 'Open Water Two' on this boat," Donna had declared firmly. The Coast Guard also required that life jackets be immediately available and a shark watch be kept. That meant Donna was sitting on top of the cabin in a position where she could see all around with her M16 near at hand.

"You would not believe the disasters and loss of life the Coast Guard sees every year that could have easily been prevented by just a little forethought. The ocean is no place for impulsive actions. Especially now," she had added grimly.

Sheila had joined Donna, the better to keep an eye on her boys. It was hard for her the group knew, she would always feel like she had somehow abandoned her husband and the boys' father although of course she had done no such thing. She tried to maintain a cheerful, positive demeanor for her sons' sake but below it they could all see the sadness and no one blamed her.

Howard and Bernadette decided to join the group in the water, telling Donna of their decision. Therefore no one except the sharp-eyed female captain noticed when Leslie and Raj slipped into the now vacant cabin. Muffled sounds soon informed her that the last of her friends were finally pairing off, something she had hoped for even before the voyage had started and certainly since then.

Trials and tribulations sometimes brought out the best in people she reflected. They made what once seemed insurmountable obstacles things that blew away in the wind like the tip of a milkweed. For example Raj had started talking freely to women when it became apparent that there was no other choice when he was manning the radar. He confessed later he simply didn't even think about it, he simply talked. And finally Sheldon, with Amy's support, was growing into am actual human being. Oh he never would be the life of the party and his quirks and phobias would remain forever but now they were becoming funny, almost enjoyable rather than making her set her teeth and reminding herself that she promised she would NOT drop him in the ocean and wish him Bon Voyage.

Strangely, the woman who had grown so close to her cousin's friends never saw herself as alone. She had them, she had her children. She had "loved and lost" before and while never regretting it had no real desire or need for another romantic relationship. Not now anyway.

A puff of wind touched her cheek. She wetted her finger and eyed the placid water. Evening was drawing near and the breeze was beginning to pick up. She cocked an ear. Silence from the cabin beneath her. She cupped her hands into a speaking trumpet.

"All aboard!"

Everyone climbed back on, each person checking and rechecking that everyone was there. Because of Howard's successes there was enough distilled fresh water to allow a hose to be used to spray everyone down to wash off the salt water, and any thing else in the case of the two couples that had remained aboard for amatory exploration. Donna DID admit to herself that she missed that.

Supper was prepared and dug into with gusto. The sails had been hoisted and set and the "John B" was slowly picking up speed through the water. The group had scattered about the boat. Two card games were in progress although Donna had yet to even begin to want to decipher the mysteries of the "Mystic Warlords of Ka'Ha", or whatever it was called. And the other was Spades. She herself was a bridge player but no one else was.

She had made herself comfortable in the forward cabin with her children, it being her turn to spend the night again with them until midnight when she would take over the helm. She was just drifting off when a commotion came from the main cabin. She lifted her head as Raj burst in.

"Donna! I'm picking up a radio conversation between at least two ships! Come quickly."

(To be continued) 


	10. Decisions

I Need a Hero, Chapter 10 by patricia51

(Decisions)

"Donna! I'm picking up a radio conversation between at least two ships! Come quickly."

Fortunately the children were already asleep so there were no protests as Donna slipped away. She padded aft to where Raj had already turned on the speaker. Definitely two and perhaps three different stations were talking back and forth and the transmissions were on a designated ship-to-ship frequency. Waiting until there was a momentary lapse in the transmissions Donna keyed the mike that Raj had handed her.

"Calling any station, calling any station. Come in please."

"Hold on," Raj muttered. "Leslie see if you can boost the signal." The girl scientist nodded. With her glasses perched on the end of her nose and the tip of her tongue sticking out in concentration she adjusted the antenna position and fiddled with the control.

"Try now."

"Any station, any station on this net come in please."

There was silence again. Then a surprised voice answered.

"Station calling say again. Station calling say again."

"This is the 'Sloop John B' of United States registry attempting to contact anyone out there. Would you identify yourself please?"

A deeper voice took over, filled with authority. "This is Captain Michaels, the captain of Ark Four. Who is this please?"

"This is Petty Officer Second Class Donna Greene of the United States Coast Guard, Captain of the 'Sloop John B' formerly of Pasadena California. We're a sailboat with fourteen souls on board the majority of which are faculty members from Cal Tech."

Another voice took over, one sounding educated and precise. "Goodness, we understood that Cal Tech, that Pasadena, indeed all of the West Coast was wiped out."

"Well fortunately the group with me suspected something was really wrong. We were prepared and managed to get out to sea as the disasters took place."

"How did your group figure it out? This is Doctor Adrian Helmsley. I'm curious."

Raj gestured for the microphone. Donna nodded. "Just a moment Doctor Helmsley. I'm going to turn you over to some of the brains. I'm just a sailor."

"Doctor Helmsley this is Doctor Rajesh Koothrappali. I believe we met once before courtesy of my mentor Doctor Satnam Tsurutan."

"Of course. If memory serves me you are also an astrophysicist." The voice on the radio turned sad. "I fear I have to tell you that Doctor Tsurutan didn't make it. He was supposed to be here but there was an accident with the helicopter on its way to pick him and his family up and it crashed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Who else is with you?"

"Doctor Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist and Nobel-prize winner along with his wife Penny and their daughter. His Nobel Prize co-winner Doctor Leslie Winkle is on board. Howard Wolowitz, a NASA Mission Specialist and MIT engineer is here along with his wife Doctor Bernadette Rostenkowski who is a microbiologist. We also have Doctor Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist and Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler, a neuroscientist."

"Of course there is Donna Greene our captain and her two children. Finally we were fortunate to rescue Sheila Martinez and her two sons from the wreckage of their boat."

Raj went on to describe his long ago talk with Doctor Tsurutan and how the group of friends had become suspicious of the disasters looming all over the world and how they had banded together to try to escape them. He went on about their escape, some of the dangers they had faced and how they had come to be carried out so far into the Pacific by the waves and the storms.

Doctor Helmsley expressed his admiration for their adventures. He promised to arrange for further contact in the morning but indicated that he needed to confer with several people before then.

Raj returned the mike to Donna and she and Captain Michaels exchanged positions and courses before radio contact was ended. The group gathered to talk over what all of this meant.

"Well it means that the world hasn't been wiped out," a relieved Leonard commented. "We will have some place to go after all."

A long and spirited discussion went on for half the night. The children were tucked in their room and Donna caught a few winks while Penny and Leslie took turns at the tiller.

In the morning they crowded around the radio. The sea was calm so the sails had been lowered and the sloop was riding gently in the water with no need to have anyone at the tiller. Precisely at the agreed time the radio came to life.

"Ark Four calling Sloop John B. Come in. This is Doctor Helmsley. Over."

There was a moment of panic as the speaker started to hiss and nothing Raj could do managed to stop it. Since the lights were still glowing and the strength meter working Donna grabbed the headphones and the mike, giving a sigh of relief and a thumbs up to the anxious group.

It was hard to tell exactly how the conversation was going as Donna listened much more than she spoke. She produced a pen and then gestured for something to write on. Leonard scooped one of Sheldon's printed declarations from his attempt to designate himself captain. They shared a grin.

For another ten minutes Donna talked and made notes. Once she got Raj to call up a map of the South West Pacific. Eventually she signed off after promising to be back on the next morning at the same time. As soon as the set was powered down Raj and Howard immediately began to work on the speaker system.

"Whew."

"That says a lot in itself," commented Leslie.

"Indeed. Let me lay it all out. As we all thought, the entire world has been reshaped. Most of Europe is gone as are vast portions of the Americas. Asia was flooded, Japan wiped out completely as was Korea and even most of China and India. As for the southern hemisphere New Zealand's North Island is gone but South Island survived relatively unharmed. Australia was the same, northern and eastern parts of the continent swamped but not a badly as expected as the Great Barrier Reef broke the force of water coming in on that side and New Guinea and others protected it on the north.

"Africa is almost unscathed. The Arks, giant self-contained life boats one might call them are headed there with their passengers. As we suspected, they hold many political, business and scientific persons, including by the way Howard your friend Hawking as well as historic and art treasures from all over the world."

Donna gestured to the map laid out on the deck. "The Arks are going to have to take a very round-about way to their destination at the Cape of Good Hope. Many of the islands, Sumatra, Java, Indonesia and others were flooded while coastal waters were raised up and now a huge series of mud banks and shoals exist were once open water was. So to be careful they're coming this way."

An excited murmur swept through the group.

"They won't come within sight of us of course. But on our present courses the day after tomorrow they will pass close enough that the helicopters they have on board will be able to reach us. They can take some of us or all of us."

Trying to be completely casual Sheldon asked "In what particular order would we go?"

Donna tried to keep a straight face as she knew the answer was not going to be well received by the temperamental genius. "Well they are very excited at the chance to have Howard join them. As they; that is Doctor Helmsley, Captain Michaels and the senior staff aboard, say a good engineer is worth ten theorists right now. Of course Bernadette would also be welcomed not only as Howard's wife but in her own right. Amy too, practically no one in her specialty is known to survive. Of course as Nobel Prize winners Leslie and Leonard with Penny at his side would be happily accepted. And Raj being an old friend as well as having been trained by Doctor Tsurutan who discovered the cause of the whole catastrophe makes him especially welcome."

"What about me?" gasped Sheldon in indignation.

"They didn't say. I guess you fall into the class with me."

Sheldon fainted.

As Amy revived her boyfriend Donna went on to outline the conditions aboard the Arks.

"By the way, there IS an alternative. The helos, besides picking up people who want to go can bring us stuff. Equipment for research, for gathering vital information on the state of the seafloor and tectonic activity here and where we sail.

Donna looked around, receiving a nod from the rescued woman and her sons. "Sheila and the boys want to go. I expected that. The rest of you, think it over."

"What's to think over?" asked Sheldon, conscious but definitely miffed that he had been all but ignored by the Ark in naming people who's skills were wanting, Especially since an engineer, one of the Oompa-Loompas of the science world, was the first choice. "Here we are on a cramped, crowded boat and we're being given the opportunity to relocate to a spacious place."

"Sheldon were you paying any attention at all to what was being said?" asked Amy in the tolerant way all women have when their men have missed the whole point of something. "The Ark is grossly overcrowded. It was crowded as it was originally designed and then it was agreed at the last minute to allow as many people as could fit on board get on. If you think we're packed tightly here, well, you haven't seen anything yet."

"But surely someone of my stature, a mind that only comes along once or twice in a generation..."

Donna sighed. No matter how improved the new Sheldon Cooper was his ego was always going to be there. "Sheldon," she cut him off. "They didn't specifically want you. Or need you. You'd just be thrown into the mix with the rest of the refugees."

"That's terrible!"

"Indeed," said Leonard with a completely straight face. Turning away from his best friend he looked around. "So let's all think about it until morning."

The amount of room on the boat hadn't increased but each pair was able to find a place to be separate from the other and discuss their options. Donna appointed herself on watch and stayed there with her children as the day went on.

Penny and Leonard were talking quietly to each other when an excited Michelle rushed inside. She had remained with her "bestest friends" Daniel and Tiffany on deck and occasional thuds and laughter had marked their location.

"Mommy, Daddy, come quick!" the excited little girl called.

Giving each other a look of happiness the pair rushed after their now and forever daughter. They came out into the soft afternoon sun and mouths dropped open in amazement and awe.

The whales were passing. All around the boat the great bodies swam. Flukes splashed water as they sounded and then returned to the surface. A mother with her calf came close, carefully keeping her body between the frolicking youngster and the boat while she investigated.

"Oh my God," breathed Penny.

"Humpbacks," said Donna softly. "Once hunted to the edge of extinction." She paused. "There's no way to believe 'if any good came out of this' because nothing can when you think of the millions and millions of lives lost but there won't be any harpoons or catcher boats or factory ships pursuing them ever again."

They all sat and watched. Even the children were quiet as though too much talking might break the spell. One by one the other pairs on board joined and watched. The whales continued to swim with the boat as though they had adopted it as a member of the pod. Twilight came and then darkness but still the sound of their new companions remained for hours until they faded away in the middle of the night.

As the informal gathering broke up Penny looked at Donna.

"You've made your decision haven't you?"

"I don't think really there was much doubt except I was worried about it just being me and the kids."

"Well, you won't be alone."

"Are you sure?"

Penny smiled. "There won't be any acting jobs anytime soon. Leonard says he can work just as well out here without distractions until we decide where we want to settle. And Michelle, she loves it here, she loves your kids and now this is home to her. So it is to us too."

"Raj and Leslie are staying. Bernadette and Howard are still debating but he LIKES being Chief Engineer and he keeps coming up with new ideas. I think they'll stay as well. So really it's just Sheldon and Amy."

Donna sighed. "I can't decide whether I want to ask him to stay or beg him to go."

"He has that effect," Penny admitted. "But I hope he stays. As difficult as he can be sometimes he HAS got better and of course no matter what he's still my husband's best friend."

As it turned out the decision was made the moment that Sheldon found the list of equipment and research supplies that was being offered to them. He immediately began to draft plans and hand out assignments to everyone on board including the children for the many experiments and theories that he planned. No mention was made of the fact that when he had found out that if they did leave that they would leave by helicopter made him faint again.

"Has anyone told him yet that Sweden really doesn't exist anymore and that there will never be any more Nobel Prizes?" asked Leslie very quietly.

"No one's had the heart yet," admitted Leonard.

Early the next morning a shape appeared on the horizon, growing shortly to become the bussing form of a helicopter. It had a load slung under it.

Much debate and planning had gone into its arrival. The sails had all been lowered and stored. The helo approached gingerly from the rear, lowering the cable which was long enough not to foul the mast. As quickly as possible the net had been opened and equipment and supplies distributed throughout the boat. It wasn't easy; the downdraft from the helo threw spray all around and made it hard to stand up. Fortunately the pilot was one of the best in the world, which of course is why she was chosen for the Ark, and she kept the disruption as low as she could.

Once the supplies were unloaded it was time to take on passengers. A harness was lowered and one by one Shelia and her sons, after many hugs, were lifted into the hold of the chopper. Then it was time for them to go.

The helicopter slid sideways slightly so its wash wouldn't have the same effect during its departure as it had on its arrival. Sheila, William and Harry waved from the cabin. Then it was lifting up and away. Those on the boat waved back as long as the craft was in sight. When it was gone there was a moment of silence.

Everyone looked at each other as to confirm one more time the decision they had all reached. The silence was broken by a whoop of Donna's.

"All hands make sail! We'll never find out where we are going to go until we get started."

In short order the sails caught the morning breeze. The "Sloop John B" picked up speed. Howard and Bernadette sat on one side of the bow, their arms around each other. Sheldon and Amy mirrored their pose on the other side. There was laughter as the following breeze blew the girls' hair around their faces and the faces of their men.

"That tickles," said Sheldon without the slightest bit of a Complaint in his voice.

Raj and Leslie lounged on top of the cabin, the sail hiding some but not all of their activities from everyone else. A few muted words like "Raj!" and "Oh my" drifted back to the rest of the group snuggled together in the cockpit

In the cockpit Donna sat with one arm around Daniel and the other around Tiffany. Michelle occupied her usual spot between Leonard and Penny. The boat heeled slightly and spray flew up, just missing them all. There was laughter, there was love and the whole world was ahead of them to explore.

(The End)

(Not the place I originally intended to leave our group but it seems right. They're all together, they're happy and they have a new life awaiting them wherever they end up.) 


End file.
